I'm not a proponent of "bearing tests", but as a little end of the night "fun" activity, within reason, and rarely, sure why not.

After the staff did their typical "you lost that lovely feeling" and a few more routines that got all the cadets out, the cadets wanted revenge to break the staff. Due to school testing, only two staffers were on hand, but they agreed to the turnabout.

I observed for 5 minutes, as the "rookies" did their best to try to break the staff, with no success.

I came up to the NCO and asked him "Sergeant, what's my first name?"He almost broke right there. After a few minutes of resisting the silly stuff the cadets were using to try to break them, clearly they weren't thinking logically anymore!He came back with "I do not know sir, but I will find out". I told him that was a good answer. Then he comes back with "Sir, may I ask a question?"."Go ahead Sergeant". "Sir, what is your first name"."Top Secret".Here, the newer cadets go into the cliche "he'd tell you but he'd have to kill you!". I had to of course correct them and explained, "no my name truly is Top Secret, my parents were very cruel". ALMOST got him with that. Came back with "Sergeant, what's my Last name?" I was leading him to say my full name eventually, hoping that the silliness would do it. What I didn't expect, was the "blank slate" going on after the initial volley, where he dropped out of formation because he couldn't look to the side to read my nameplate, and completely blanked. Mission accomplished.

Up next was the C/LtCol. Former Cadet commander, a recipient of numerous emails and interactions."Colonel, what's my first name?"Two seconds of thought, and he breaks out in a grin, and drops out.

Right around this time the Sergeant remembers my first name.

What's the point of this?

Sometimes a few moments of "silly" is good for morale. The in-ranks cadets loved it. The staff got to do something silly as well. Because of the nature of our organization, first names are sometimes lost in translation/not thought about. So far I'm the only person to break cadet staff during one of these.

Sometimes a few moments of "silly" is good for morale. The in-ranks cadets loved it. The staff got to do something silly as well. Because of the nature of our organization, first names are sometimes lost in translation/not thought about. So far I'm the only person to break cadet staff during one of these.

At the MN Wing 2016 Encampment, I was a Flight Sergeant in the 18th CTG 38th CTS. Our squadron was called the Rogue Squadron (Star Wars reference). Our Squadron Commander (who was incredible, by the way) started this thing where if anyone in our squadron said "Destroy the Empire" you would have to respond with "Destroy the Empire". It was great and we got everyone doing it. It really heightened morale.

And, when we got on the buses to go to the Range for obstacle courses, our Squadron Commander yelled "Rogue Trip!" (like Road Trip). He started this call and response thing where he would say things and then the students would respond. It went like this:

"When I say Rogue, you say trip. Rogue-""Trip!""Rogue-""Trip!"

We did that a few times. It was outstanding. One of the best times of my life. Long live the Rogue Squadron!

Cadet: "Do I have to run today?"Senior A: "I can't make you do anything. But why don't you want to run?"Cadet: "Because my thumb is broke."Senior A: "What does that have to do with running?"Cadet: *shrugs*Senior A: "Does running affect your thumb?"Cadet: "Well, when I run, it hurts. When it hurts, it throbs. When it throbs, I cry. When I cry, I cry tears of sadness. Nobody wants that."

Senior A: "(Senior B), can you please come over here? (Cadet), explain to (Senior B), what you just said."Cadet: "Well, I said I couldn't run because of my thumb."Senior B: "Okay...?"Senior A:" No, tell him what you just told me."Cadet: "When I run, it hurts. When it hurts, it throbs. When it throbs, I cry. When---"Senior B: "I'm going to go back over here and pretend like I'm not a member of this unit."

*outside during the PT run*

Senior C: "How come you're not running today?"Cadet: *looks at Senior A*Senior A: "Go ahead. Tell him."Cadet: "When I run, it hurts. When it hurts, it throbs. When it throbs, I cry. When I cry, I cry tears of sadness, and nobody wants to see that."Senior C: "I'm very confused here. I'll just go back inside." Senior A: "Stop scaring away all my senior members!"